Last week, the office that issues permits for film shoots in the Los Angeles area released its latest quarterly report on film activity in the area during Q4 2024. The FilmLA On-Location Production Report showed “historically low” levels of filming taking place in the region during 2024, leading some to question the continued viability of Los Angeles as a film production hub.
One major factor in limiting film production was the 5 month period in 2023 of labor strikes by Hollywood’s writers and actors guilds, leading studios to cancel some of the productions that had been planned for the area. As a result, even after the strikes had ended, the recovery of production was slower than expected.
Another factor is the decline in the number of projects overall, as major studios including Comcast NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Paramount have cut back on production as the once insatiable demand for new content has subsided.
A third factor cited in the report was the lure of financial incentives offered by alternative production centers, including appealing offers from the status of New Mexico and Georgia, and international locations in Britain and Canada.
All these factors have conspired to create an extremely challenging environment for LA-based production workers. While the cataclysmic wildfires have not yet caused a major shutdown in filming, they did uproot many workers based in impacted communities such as Pasadena, Alameda, and Glendale.
Last October, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a doubling of the state’s film & TV tax credits to make continued filming in Los Angeles more attractive. However, some analysts are skeptical of the credits, given that they do not apply to reality TV shoots or the salaries of producers, directors, and actors.